Poison Truth
by Lovable Loner
Summary: What happens when a private conversation containing delicate information is over heard by a bewildered audience? Will Merlin survive the consequences? A finding out story, post 3x05, Arwen! Dark!Merlin SPOILERS FOR UP TO 3X05! NOW UP WITH EPILOGUE!
1. A Taste of Truth

**Hi, I'm in a very Merlin mood right now and thought that I'd write down a plot that's been in my head for awhile. This has been edited by one of my best friends, Susie666, so a big thank you to her. I don't know what I'd do without her. (Probably rejoice!) :P**

**Summary: What happens when a private conversation containing delicate information is over heard by a bewildered audience? Will Merlin survive the consequences? A finding out story, post 3x05, Arthur/Gwen, T for my paranoia. **

**P.S. I do not own Merlin, however much I'd love too. Sadly it's all owned by the BBC.**

**Enjoy!

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It was early morning and he was already in a bad mood, and all because his lazy, incompetent, rude, clumsy, idiotic, useless, inefficient, hopeless manservant couldn't be bothered to get up in the morning, meaning him, the crowned prince of Camelot, the future king, had to march all the way down to the court physician's chambers and kick his indolent arse out of bed. _Oh joy!_

As Arthur turned the next corner he slammed into an unaware servant, the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground were the princes sharp reflexes. Steel arms curled around the feminine figure, and as he looked down, Arthur was pleasantly surprised to find Guinevere glazing back up at him.

Neither of them moved, Merlin utterly forgotten, too consumed by the embrace. As their heated gaze fixed on one another Arthur felt a very strong erg to meet those luxurious lips of hers for a kiss, however, he held himself back, still not letting go of her.

"Guinevere..." he said happily, he had not seen her for days and wanted nothing more than to drag her back to his chambers.

"My lord..." she sighed, slightly flustered, love reflecting in both her eyes and voice.

However, before they could continue, the sound of approaching footsteps knocked them both from their daze. Arthur quickly dragged himself and Gwen into an alcove, hiding them both from whoever the advancing footsteps belonged to. The alcove was small, barely large enough for the one person, let alone two, forcing them to be flat against each other, their breath hot on the other's neck. A red velvet curtain covered the alcove, a slit between the material and stone allowing them both to see the corridor while they remained hidden.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Merlin appear, and prepared to step out of his hiding place, ready to rip his servant a new one.

However, he stopped dead at the sight of his friend's face, he looked angry – no, actually that was an understatement – he looked _furious_! And that was a just plain bizarre; Merlin was never angry, well perhaps when maybe Arthur gave him a little too many chores.

The second thing that stopped him was the sound of someone else coming, hopefully someone that could explain the man's odd mood. He was shocked when he saw Morgana appear, he looked down at Gwen too see her also confused.

The next few seconds made Arthur utterly stunned as Morgana grabbed hold of Merlin's arm, spin the boy around and then slap him full force. The sound reverberated of the stone ways, making both Arthur and Gwen flinch.

Arthur's first thought was that they had had a lover's quiff, for he had always known something was between the two, but what could sweet, couldn't harm a fly, Merlin done to receive such a blow.

"You will _not_ talk about her like that, you are not even worthy of speaking her name. Do you understand?" Morgana spat. Arthur had never heard such hatred and disgust for one man before, even when his father is talking of _evil_ sorcerers.

"I think it is you who doesn't understand!" Merlin's voice was also harsh, but he could also hear the guilt and pity mixed in. Arthur was utterly confused now – _What the hell is going? Who are they talking about?_ As he looked down to Gwen, he could see his confusion reflected on her own face; _well at least I'm not the only one that doesn't have a clue of what's happening._

"Just remember that your life is in my hands, Merlin." Arthur turned pale, was she _threatening _him? "One word and your head will be on a chopping block!" Yep, defiantly a threat, _I repeat, what the hell is going on?_ "What would Uther do if he _accidently_ discovered that a _servant_ tried to poison his beloved _daughter_? Let me _think_." A malevolent smile spread across her face, twisting her former beauty, while she pretended to ponder her question. Merlin seemed unaffected though, although Arthur could see his guilt deepen, meanwhile he could hear Gwen gasp, luckily it seemed to pass unnoticed, and he himself fought of nausea: _Poison? Daughter?_

"What was I suppose to do? Let Camelot fall? Let everyone I love die?" That's when the prince decided that he had no idea what was happening, his perplexed mind was full.

"You didn't mind killing me!" She was quickly losing her patience, her voice rising. Before Merlin could reply though, she whispered harshly, "you _betrayed _me!"

Whatever reaction Arthur thought would come from his manservant, he did not expect the callous, bitter laugh, one that should only be from those who have seen the worst of war and lost their loved – never from Merlin.

"You're the one who started this, Morgana. You helped Morgause to try and kill the king and destroy Camelot, I believe you'll find you betrayed us first!"

_This is a prank, _Arthur thought, _they know Guinevere and I are in this Alcove. It's a prank._ However, no matter how much he wished it were true, he knew no one was that good an actor, especially Merlin. No, this was very much real.

"You have no idea what it's like..." Morgana spat.

"We've already had this conversation Morgana, it is no excuse! Uther was prepared to use magic to save you from death; he would not burn you if he discovered you processed some! You do this through blood thrust and revenge. Do not pretend otherwise." Merlin's voice was oddly stained with pain, pity and resignation.

Morgana glared at him for a moment until said forcefully, "You should stop sticking your nose into things that don't concern you! I could cut you down where you stand and people not ask a single question, for I could just say it was self defence, and it would be believed!" her smirk was back and Arthur could see that she held no lie: she would strike him down without a moment's thought.

"What? Like how you tried to kill me when I stopped the army of the dead that you had summoned?" _Wait, what?_ "I'm harder to kill than you think. Just ask Nimueh - oh wait, you can't, she's dead!" A defining silence followed; Merlin's eyes bulged, clearly he had not meant to say that. Everyone else was just too surprised, unable to digest the information and incapable to understand what this meant and how on earth Merlin knew she was dead, _wait, she was dead?_

Quickly backtracking, Merlin continued, albeit a bit shakily, "anyway, Uther may buy it, however, Arthur, Gwen and Gaius won't, and the last thing you need is them three on your back, discovering you dirty little secrets, stopping your sisterly gatherings." _What sister?_

His former slip up seemed to be brushed under the rug as Morgana responded with an iniquity snort. "Arthur's stupid, he'll take anything I say as gospel, just like he has every time before. Anyway, what does he care, he'll just replace you, perhaps he'll even thank me for getting rid of such an incompetent, useless servant." Arthur's knuckles turned white, his nails cutting the soft skin of his palm as his hands drew to fists. She continued however, oblivious to his anger, but of course she was, she didn't even know he was there! "Gwen can also be replaced, and no one would listen to her over me, just like you. She's a nuisance anyway." He felt his anger boil even more, _how dare she!_ Gwen turned completely rigged, her breaths ragged; from anger or tears though, he did not know, He took her hand gently to offer her some form of comfort. "Gaius is an old fool, easily taken care of and no real threat." She was talking calmly; as if they were discussing the weather and not the _disposal_ of a man she's known her whole life.

Merlin was surprisingly still, especially as both Arthur and Gwen were now shaking, his tone unruffled, no anger, just the disappointment and shame remaining.

"Then kill me."

It was said so bluntly, with his arms stretched out either side of him, that the three were chilled with disbelief; even Morgana took a step back.

After what felt like forever, and with no action from Morgana, he lowered his arms. A regretful smile traced his lips; he then turned and walked away.

After a short pause, Morgana recovered from her surprise and turned to take her own leave and Arthur realised a breath he had not realised he was holding, thankful that his friend was still alive.

When the corridor was free from all noises, especially footsteps, Arthur deemed it safe. He moved softly and slowly from the alcove, missing the warmth of Gwen immediately. He shivered slightly as he checked that the coast was completely clear with his eyes. When done, he turned to Gwen, who had removed herself as well and was now just in front of the curtain covered alcove.

"What the _hell _is going on?" He repeated out loud, hoping this time he would actually get an answer!

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**Should I continue? Plez plez REVIEW!**


	2. Oh crap

**Well, what can I say? ... OMG! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the AWARSOME feedback – I've never ever had so many reviews/alerts/favs in one day! **

**I toast you with my 4****th**** diet coke (let's just hope I don't spill any on my keyboard) as I am now high on lovely E-numbers and Jelly Babies and decided to do this instead of my History writing assessment (cause this is far more important!).**

**Thank you again to Susie666 for editing this!**

**Reviews will speed me up in writing, so I beg you, plez plez REVIEW!**

**Enjoy!

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Gwen just stood there fidgeting, unable to understand the resent events. She looked up to find Arthur still pacing, she had never known him so frustrated, and the way that he was going he was soon to wear a hole in the floor.

They were so busy trying to comprehend it all that neither of them noticed the approaching servant until he popped around the corner, taking them all by surprise. The boy halted, eyes swelled in shock and fear. Although Gwen couldn't really blame him, for it must be strange turning the corner to find a very nervous, confused and uncomfortable looking servant and the Crowned Prince of Camelot glaring murderously and shaking with aggravation.

Luckily, for all three of them, the boy quickly got the hint that this was not something you want to disturb unless wishing physical harm upon yourself. He hurriedly took an awkward bow and practically sprinted away.

Gwen promptly decided that they could not stay in the corridor without being interrupted again, especially with such a delicate and dangerous subject.

She swiftly took Arthur's hand, meeting no resistance, and guided him to the nearest, secluded guest chambers that she knew would be empty. They entered, Gwen closing the door softly behind them, and Arthur immediately continued his pacing, while she quickly took a seat, before her legs gave out.

About five minutes passed, the only sound being Arthur's footsteps. She just couldn't take any more!

"Will you _stop_?" Gwen yelled.

His head snapped up, shock staining his face; he had probably forgotten she was there! He did, nevertheless, stop and for one second he looked at her with more vulnerability than she had ever known, but then it was gone and she was unsure if she had imagined it.

"Thank you, now you need to calm down!" she implored.

"WHAT!" Arthur shouted, making her recoil "you want me to CALM DOWN? How am I supposed to CALM DOWN? _Please_ tell me, Guinevere!" The last sentence seemed to be more of a plea; however he swiftly resumed shouting, even adding his arms to the mix, flailing them around. "I just found out that _Morgana_ may just be my _sister_, who sounds like she has _magic_ and wants nothing more than to see me, my father and the whole of Camelot _dead_! _Merlin_ tried to _poison_ her and she tried to _kill_ him in return, as well as _threatening_ to _kill_ _him_! And that _idiot_ _Merlin_ was the one who stopped the army of the dead! Plus, she thinks I'm stupid and uncaring; you, replaceable and a nuisance and Gaius, an old fool and I quote '_easily taken care of'_ – I don't think she meant a nice hot meal!" Arthur breathed heavily, having not paused once, and tried to calm himself down.

Gwen just stared at him in disbelief, mouth open. She soon recovered herself and closed her eyes to compose herself.

They sat there for a few moments, thinking and wondering how on earth two of their closest friends had kept such a huge secret without either of them suspecting.

"It's hard to believe that they're the same people, isn't it?" Gwen whispered, staring down at the floor. She finally looked back up at the man in front of her, "what do we do now?" begging the Gods that he had an answer.

"We confront one of them." He said simply, having deflated considerably.

"Merlin? Morgana was just too..." A shiver ran through Gwen when she recalled the disturbing memories of her friend, or was it former friend.

"Different" Arthur finished, him too frowning at evil that seemed to surround her as she threatened Merlin.

"I think only one of us should go, otherwise he may feel we're ganging up on him." Gwen suggested.

Arthur's face suddenly turned sour as he spat out "and what if he tries to poison us? What then?"

"Arthur!" Gwen scolded, although she could hear that he didn't believe in what he had just said, "Merlin radiated remorse for his actions, and from the sounds of it he did it to save Camelot. She even admitted that she wanted Camelot to fall!"

Gwen was trying to believe it herself, for she didn't think she could bare even one of them turning evil, let alone two. She could see that Arthur too was trying to convince himself, and he finally gave a slow, hesitant nod.

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He was _stupid_! So very, very, very _stupid_! He hadn't meant to say it, not at all, it had just come out. Hell, it wasn't even true!

"_Your sister is the cruellest, most malicious creature to walk the earth!" _

But he did know cruller creatures; he had killed most of them for goodness sake. Merlin raised a careful hand to his still burning cheek, filching at the pain.

God, he hated this, for once he just wanted a day off, on an island somewhere, where there was no destiny, no magic, only beautiful landscapes and a glistening sea. There would only be him, no Arthur, no Uther, and certainly no Morgana, just him.

Merlin quickly shook his head, riding him of the dream. He was stuck here with his destiny and everyone that wanted to kill him, so there was no point sitting around and moping about it!

He continued changing the prince's bed, stripping the dirty sheets away and fitting on the new ones. When he arrived to the chamber this morning, he had found it surprisingly empty. But then again, it was probably because the prat was rummaging around the castle looking for him. Well, at least today's lateness wasn't entirely his fault, no, it was Morgana's and hell would freeze over before he told the dollop head that - there would be far too many questions.

"Ahem"

Merlin practically jumped out of his skin; spinning around to find Arthur standing there in the middle of the room, his arms behind is back, looking directly at him and very uncomfortable.

Tilting his head sideways and raising his eyebrows, Merlin tried not to burst out laughing; he had never seen the 'Fearless Crowned Prince Arthur of Camelot' look so twitchy and concluded quickly that it probably had something to do with Gwen, because, wasn't it always?

"Merlin..." his voice was edgy, and certainly a lame attempt at intimidating.

"Arthur..." Merlin responded when it seemed his friend would not continue. The man seemed to be in an internal battle, and it was pretty funny. "What happened this time?" The prince's head shot up, eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Well, you only get like this when it involves _her_." Merlin explained.

Arthur's eyes grew narrow, as if examining his servant and it was Merlin, this time, who became anxious. After a few minutes of silence, the prat finally spoke, "I know"

The way he said it, it seemed to have extra meaning, like he was saying that he knew Merlin's deepest, darkest secrets, but he couldn't, _could he?_

"Pardon?" he croaked, panic already making his throat dry.

"Merlin, I know." Arthur took a step forward, hands moving forward as if to emphasise his point, "I saw you and heard everything!"

Arthur knew? _Oh crap..._

"You did?" his voice now unnaturally high, as his mind tried to work hard as he tried to think of the last time he used magic. And, well, that was yesterday..._oh crap..._

Merlin swallowed thickly, as if trying to consume his panic, but it was no use.

"Are you handing me over to Uther?" Merlin rasped, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"No" it was said so bluntly that Merlin withdrew, hesitant to believe he had heard right, "I think I understand why, the way..." Arthur seemed unable to finish the sentence as he moved toward the window, staring at the landscape.

"I'm not going to be executed?" He needed Arthur to say it, say that everything was going to be alright, that their friendship was intact and still strong.

Arthur looked back at him, his expression slightly baffled, "I told you Merlin, no. Why would I?"

'_Why would I?'_ Had he seriously just said that? How about 'magic is evil'? Or, 'all sorcerers are bent on destruction'? Luckily, he decided to keep his mouth closed, best not to change his friends mind and get himself burned!

Merlin took a deep breath, "so everything's going to be alright?" He was very conscious of the pleading tone, but Arthur seemed to brush it off as he returned to gazing out of the glass.

"I don't know" the Prince replied truthfully. Merlin closed his eyes, not wanting to think of the implications in that statement. "You're going to need to explain this me and Guinevere before anything is decided."

Eyes snapping open, Merlin stared at Arthur, bewildered; "Gwen?" his squeaky voice back.

"She was with me in the alcove, she knows too." Arthur replied, not looking at him.

He didn't even want to think of the implications of them, together, in a dark alcove, anythi – _wait_, _what alcove?_ Since when did he perform magic in corridors? Gaius said he was reckless, but he wasn't that reckless! However, brushing it off, he responded with a nod, thinking that Arthur could probably see him in the corner of his eye.

"One thing though, Merlin" Arthur bowed his head, closing his eyes as he whispered, "Why? Why did you do it?"

Merlin, confused for a moment, finally he realised that Arthur was probably wondering why Merlin would want to study magic.

"I was born with it" Arthur's head turned to him, his puzzled expression clear. "I know it doesn't sound possible, and I know it's never happened before, but it's true. I was born with it."

If anything, Arthur looked even more perplexed. Merlin took a deep breath and continued.

"I could perform magic before I could walk or talk!"

Till the day Merlin dies, he will never forget the look on the face of his friend, for it was one of pure horror.

And that's when Merlin realised; Arthur wasn't talking about his magic...

Arthur didn't know...

And he, Merlin, was going to be executed..._oh crap_...

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**He he he, I do love cliffhangers! Remember, the more the reviews, the quicker I update!**

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	3. Confessions

**I am SO SORRY! My History finally took presentence over fan fiction, mostly because if my teacher killed me then I won't be able to update at all! But I'm back now and its half term so the next chapter will probably be coming soon!**

**THANK YOU all those who reviewed/alerted/faved this story so far! I love you all! Plez plez review cos I love feedback, good or bad!**

**And once again thank you to Susie666 who helped me a lot this chapter (she even wrote a bit cause I kinda had no plot except the first two chapters and had a lot trouble with this one – I REALLY didn't expect it to be so popular!)**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Merlin! (Does anyone else find these a bit silly or is it just me?)**

**Now Enjoy!

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"_Excuse me?_" the reply was hoarse and Merlin barley heard it, he was far too worried about how ill Arthur looked, he wouldn't be surprised if his majesty decided to puke all over the floor.

Merlin did contemplate lying to the prince and say _'Ha, fooled you!'_ or _'Yep, I was born stupid, I could be it before I could walk or talk!'_ and pretend that Arthur had misheard him. But Merlin couldn't take the risk that he wouldn't be believed - and that would make the situation a whole lot worse.

It was strange, for whenever Merlin thought of telling Arthur of his magic, he expected to be laughed at, a slap on the back and _'Don't tell my father that joke!'_ but the warlock knew that his master believed him, and now he just had to face the consequences. He wondered what Arthur _knew_ that made him so cynical and open minded to even consider Merlin magical.

Merlin watched as Arthur moved slowly to his table, collapse on his chair and burry his face in his hands. The clumsy servant started rocking on the balls of his feet, arms hugging himself, as if trying to find some comfort from reality.

"So..." Merlin whispered, not knowing what to say but he couldn't let the silence continue, "What _do_ you know?" voice gentle and a little shaken.

The prince's posture tensed, but after a moment he answered, his tone seemed distant, "We overheard you arguing with Morgana."

"Oh" _Well that helps...not_, "When?"

"This morning" at least that narrowed it down.

"Where?"

Arthur sighed and looked up. He looked so old, his face twisted by so many emotions, ranging from denial to bitterness, but mostly he seemed to have deflated, like there was nothing more he wanted than to shut down and find out that this whole mess was a dream.

"How many arguments did you have today?"

"A few" Merlin admitted sheepishly, shuffling side to side, as his friend rolled his eyes.

"In the corridor...when she slapped you."

"Ohhhh" nodding as he tried to remember what was mentioned. He brought up his hand, and starting with his pinkie, he began counting.

"You know I tried to poison her," he looked up for conformation, his accent filled with uncertainty and guilt, finding Arthur suddenly fascinated with his table. The prat nodded dejectedly, slightly crease fallen as if he had been hoping it weren't true, as he continued to fiddle with the woods edge.

"You know she's your half sister," Arthur momentarily stopped, eyes closed, before he continued and gave a sharp nod.

"And you know Morgause is her sister" His head snapped up.

"And you _didn't_ know Morgause is her sister" Merlin corrected himself, meanwhile mentally slapping himself; _I really have to stop putting my foot in my mouth._

"_Morgause_...is Morgana's _sister_?" anger slowly seeped into his features "That's what you meant by '_sisterly gatherings_'?" Merlin only bowed his head in conformation. "I can't believe this! How long has my _sister_ been betraying me? Tell me!" Anger dominating him, Arthur shouted making Merlin recoil.

"I said tell me, Merlin!" the anger was still there but there was still a plea for it to be 'not long', because Arthur couldn't deny it any longer – Morgana was an enemy, the evidence spoke loud and clear, no matter how much he wanted to ignore it.

"She..." Merlin's voice cracked, he really didn't want to say this, "before her kidnapping...well, actually she never was kidnapped." He looked up at Arthur, his eyes full of remorse of what was about to be said, "I'm so sorry Arthur...She's been lying for nearly two years."

He looked down at the floor, shutting his eyes as Arthur shouted, "I don't want your _pity_, _Merlin_. You're just as bad as she is...you _both_ lied to me!"

A single tear trailed down the warlock's cheek, but it only made Arthur angrier and before he knew it, a blow forced him to the ground. His eye and cheek, still red from the slap, seared in pain and his head felt like a set of giant drums; he stared blearily up, seeing a furious Arthur hovering over him and as he pulled back for another blow, Merlin flinched, curling himself inwards and squeezed his eyes shut. But the next blow never came. Merlin opened his eyes and found Arthur looking dangerously pale, very disgusted and shocked with himself; his arm was residing next to his body again.

Arthur slowly retreated back, neither taking their eyes from each other, as he met the table he sunk down to the floor, his back leaning against the hard wood of the leg. Merlin slowly moved himself to a sitting position too, his back leaning against the bed. They stayed like that for a long time, eyes still locked, neither daring to look away or break the crisp silence. Finally Arthur spoke, barely a whisper.

"Tell me _everything_ and I mean _all of it_, I will not interrupt." With that, Arthur leant his head against the table and closed his eyes; however, Merlin noticed the hand resting on his sword.

So Merlin began, he talked of how he could move things with his mind, of his mother being concerned and sending him off to Gaius to be guided, speaking of Kilgharrah and how he set him free because he had to swear his mother's life, he even recited the countless times he had saved Arthur's life, he told him of Emrys and the 'two sides of the same coin' prophecy, Merlin told him about the whole 'Life and Death' incident and how he killed Nimueh. He spoke of how Morgana was a seer and how she got magic.

When he reached the confrontation of him, his father and Morgause, Merlin hesitated, not knowing if he should tell Arthur how he was born through magic and that that was the cause of the great purge, however Merlin still said it, knowing he could hold nothing from his friend. He continued with how Morgana had been the vessel of magic and why he had poisoned her, as well as Uther being driven mad and of who summoned the army of the dead.

Merlin ended with the crystal cave and what happened with Morgana and Uther being her father also. His voice was hoarse at the conclusion; he had never spoken so much in his entire life!

Arthur had stayed stock still, only tensing and relaxing at some parts of the warlock's monologue. There were only a couple of times that Merlin was sure the prince was about to talk, but he never did.

The room dived back in to silence until Arthur had decided his next moves. He slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes to stare at Merlin. The servant shrunk slightly at the scrutinising gaze, unsure of what to do.

"Thank you" the two words were spoken quietly and Merlin could barely hear him. "Thank you for explaining" Arthur continued in a slightly louder voice "and, I suppose, for saving my life so many times."

"Are you going to tell Uther?" Merlin asked, uncertainty and fear filling his voice

Arthur looked away from Merlin, lost in thought. The longer it took him to answer, the more scared Merlin became. Finally, after what felt like days, Arthur answered.

"No," he said resolutely, turning his head to look at Merlin

"What?" Merlin asked, gaping at him, shock replacing fear.

"I said no, you idiot," Arthur replied, a small smile lighting up his face for the first time since overhearing the argument, "and if you don't shut your mouth you'll catch flies!"

"wha... but...ma...you..." Merlin stuttered unable to comprehend the fact that he didn't want him dead.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he stood up and walked over to his friend.

He offered his hand while Merlin continued to gawk at him.

He quickly regained his senses and took the presented hand and stood up, swaying slightly from the still present headache.

"You're not going to hand me over Uther?" Merlin asked, still in a state of shock

"No"

"And you're not going to kill me in my sleep?" a small smile creeping onto his face as the humour returned.

Arthur rolled his eyes again, "No, I wouldn't risk going into your room anyway, it's a tip."

"That's only because I spend all my time cleaning up after you and don't have time to clean mine," Merlin replied, "so we're ok?"

"For now, I mean I need someone to polish my armour, clean my boots, muck out my stables, walk my dogs and sharpen my sword," Arthur smirked at Merlin then turned to leave calling over his shoulder as he went, "Oh, and we're going hunting later so make sure you have the horses ready."

When Merlin closed the door Arthur's smile slipped as he returned to the window. He needed time, that was all, or that's what he hoped. Arthur sighed, God he was worn out, all he wanted to do now was sleep, but he knew he couldn't, he needed to go hunting because he needed time with Merlin, away from the castle, so that he could make sure that he was doing the right thing.

However, he couldn't help but think _'what if I hadn't collided with Gwen?'_

...Oh God...Gwen...how was he going to explain this to her?

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	4. Hunting for Reality

**Hi, I'm back! I have to admit the last chapter even surprised me cause I started of saying 'right I gotta do this, this and this to make the story work' and then suddenly I'm typing Merlin being punched – it was really weird, but oh well, I ran with it.**

**I may not be able to update this for a few days because I'm going to London twice and Portsmouth once in the next three days, so I may have it up for the weekend or Monday.**

**I very pleased you liked the last chapter, and THANK YOU for all the reviews! This is now officially my most popular story!**

**Again, thank you to the supremely awesome Susie666 for editing this chapter and giving me a few ideas of what to do! She also wishes I had sent this yesterday because she was going out of her mind with boredom and ended changing names on her contact list to really weird names. She also really hopes I check the story carefully because she is very bored right now, well when she was checking it, and has had a lot of sugar which isn't a good combination. She also reminds me that if I change the supremely awesome bit to something rude she will retaliate in her own story which she really needs to write. **

**...yeah... she kind of edited my authors note too, sorry for the extremely long drabble she wrote – she must have forgotten her daily medication...please review for both our sakes! :P **

**Enjoy!

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As she folded away the linen she couldn't help but think _'Are my best friends evil?'_ Gwen quickly shook her head to clear the thoughts. This was getting ridiculous!

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door suddenly opened; when she spun around she had expected Arthur to be there, telling her good or bad news, but it was Morgana and then fear swiftly replaced shock. She was terrified of her own friend and she didn't even know why – except, maybe, that she wanted everyone dead.

"Good morning, Gwen" she said with a smile.

"Good morning, my lady" Gwen quickly replied, unable to look her mistress in the eye.

"Are you alright?" Morgana asked, sickly sweet as she looked down at her maid.

"Mmm" she was not really listening as she continued with her chores, wanting to get out of here as quickly as she could.

"Gwen, I asked if you were alright." Morgana said more forcefully, making Gwen's head snap up.

_How could I have been so stupid?_ For it was clear that, as their eyes met, it was all fake. Her lips were curled in a soft, comforting smile, but her eyes were hard and unforgiving, a swirl of hate and disgust.

"I'm fine, my lady" Gwen mentally cursed herself at the shakiness of her voice and quickly changed subject "Where have you been? I was starting to worry, my lady." She had to stop saying 'my lady', although she couldn't help it - it was a barrier she put up when she suddenly felt nervous, one that she had used may times with Arthur.

"Oh, I only went for a walk, nothing special. I just had to clear my head" Morgana then moved to her to her dressing table and Gwen could have sworn that she saw her expression completely change, her smile disappearing entirely.

Enough was enough, she had to get away.

"Well, I better get these washed" and with that, she took her leave, feeling Morgana's eyes watching her.

* * *

Gwen moved quickly though the corridors to Arthur's chambers, she had left the laundry at the launderette and needed to know what was going on and she could wait no longer.

She stopped at the large wooden doors, knocking before she entered at the "come in".

Slipping herself through the door and quickly closing it behind her, she turned toward the prince.

"Guinevere, I...um...don't worry, Merlin's not here" He said as he saw her anxiously search the room with her eyes.

Arthur was leaning against the window, his eyes locked with hers and she could see the apprehension they held.

"Have you talked to him?"

He only nodded in response, biting his lip as if he didn't know what to say.

"Well?" Gwen breathed, not knowing if she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"We have been blind...I, a lot more than most" Arthur sighed making Gwen even more uneasy. He looked back out at the window, not able to meet her eye to eye.

"Morgana's evil, Merlin's not...I'm almost certain"

"Almost?" Gwen whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. So Morgana really was evil, there was no more denying it, all she could hope for was that Merlin really wasn't.

"I'm going hunting with Merlin later; I'll be more convinced then. It's a very complicated situation."

Gwen nodded, before asking "Why didn't he come to us?"

Arthur just laughed, reminding her of the laugh Merlin had given Morgana in that damn corridor. "Like I said, it's a very complicated situation. And anyway, would we have believed him...I'm not sure I would have."

Gwen just pierced her lips, trying unsuccessfully to stop more tears. She must have made a sound for Arthur turned around; he walked over to her, cupping her face as his thumb cleared away the tears, before pulling her into a soft embrace. She clung to him for dear life, burying her face in his shirt.

They stood there for a few seconds before they finally pulled apart.

"Are you going to explain this complicated situation?"

Arthur just shook his head, "Not for the moment, I want to make sure I have all the facts lined up first...Just remember, Morgana is dangerous, she has already tried to kill Merlin – Be careful."

"Ok" and with that she watched him walk out, leaving her trying to compose herself before she too left.

* * *

They travelled in silence as Arthur hunted for his pray. Merlin had stumbled once or twice – or maybe more round eight, but who was counting. So far he had scared all the game away and Arthur was a very annoyed prince. It wasn't just Merlin's incompetence that was winding him up, oh no, it was the infuriating silence that had replaced their usual banter.

Neither of them were sure of what to say, or too scared to say it. Finally, when they started to walk back to the horses, carrying only two rabbits, Arthur decided to start interrogating his manservant.

"So Morgana doesn't know of your magic?" Arthur asked, as if they were talking about the weather. Merlin's head shoot up, not expecting the sudden break in silence. He quickly recovered to answer.

"No, nor does her sister" He bowed his head down again, taking care where he walked. It was a while till Arthur asked his next question.

"Have you ever used magic on or against me?" There was curiosity, hesitation and fear in the prince's voice, he was indeed afraid of the answer. Merlin wished he could have said no, but he knew that that was not true, however small it may be. His friend's silence was enough as an answer, so Arthur asked "When?"

There was silence for a few moments as Merlin chose his words carefully, "Do you remember when we first met?"

Arthur turned to him, eye brows knitted in confusion, however he still answered, "You called me a royal arse."

"Yeah and you called me stupid" Giving him a huge smile.

Arthur just chuckled as he replied "Merlin, you are stupid."

"And you're an arse" The smile just brightening, making them both laugh. When they recovered Merlin continued, "Well, when we had that fight with the maces in the market, I kept moving things to get in your way"

Arthur just glared at him, open mouthed, as he said loudly, "I knew it! I knew there was something weird with that fight! I've never fallen over so much in my life!"

The warlock just smirked.

"I also removed your...donkey ears." Merlin said, while unsuccessfully tried to stifle a laugh, but he was quickly silenced by the prat's glare.

"Yeah but I still had the laugh for a few days so you didn't exactly do it well!" It was when Merlin gave a guilty look will still trying to not laugh that Arthur realised, "Oh my god! You left that on purpose?"

"It was too good" and now unable to hold it back, started howling in laughter until he felt Arthur smack him round the head.

They were nearing the clearing where the horses were tied when Arthur enquired in a deadly serious tone, "Have you ever hesitated about saving me? Thought that it would be better for me to die?"

Merlin answered bluntly without hesitation or thought, "No."

"Not even for a second?" Arthur whispered, afraid of the response, as he looked down at the floor.

Merlin took a deep breath, replying truthfully, "When I first meet the dragon, it was right after our fight in the market, he told me of the prophecy and that you would united all of Albion, he said that I had to protect you so that you'd live to become King...I laughed and said that I didn't care, and would probably help them actually. I said you were a prat, and he replied that it may be my job to change that. Then that impersonator of Lady Helen came to kill you, and I didn't even hesitate to save you."

Arthur nodded, consumed in his thoughts as they reached the horses.

"Have I changed?"

Merlin turned to him, that look of wisdom on his face, "You have become my best friend, and a man I would be proud to call my king!"

He was speechless, _had Merlin seriously just said that?_

"Thanks" and he really meant it.

"Um...what are we telling Gwen?" asked Merlin, slightly scared of the answer, as he stared to prepare the horses.

"So far she knows that Morgana's no longer on our side, I didn't know how to tell her the rest" Arthur admitted.

"But we are telling her?" Merlin enquired, unsure of what he wanted – half of him wanted her to know, so that there were no longer any secrets, but the other half was afraid of her reaction.

"I think we'll have to, it's not like we can hide it from her, and she'll want answers."

They quickly mounted the animals when Merlin had finished, Arthur going home much more convinced that he had made the right decision in not telling his father of Merlin's gifts.

* * *

Morgana watched from her window as the two men returned from their day of hunting. She could tell the difference in their demeanour, especially Merlin, who seemed to be much more relaxed, as if a huge secret had been lifted from his chest.

Gwen had seemed scared of her, she was sure of it. But did that mean Merlin had told her, had he told Arthur too?

She laughed, quickly shaking the ridiculous thought away, no one would believe _Merlin_! Not over her!

..._But what if they did?_ Morgana's smile left as quickly as it came.

She had 'informed' Merlin if he told anyone she would kill him, so would he really risk death when she had magic and he couldn't even handle a sword. The boy was an idiot but he had a brain, a small brain but a brain none the less, _didn't he?_

_I guess it's about time to find out...

* * *

_

**Plez, Plez REVIEW – You know you want too!**


	5. The Nightmare of Life

**OMG! I'm so so sorry for the wait! I kinda went to Reading on sat and was scaring little kids on sun, I also had two essays to do and was bedridden on tues...This is the only time I have had!**

**Anyway, I'm in a good mood today so all the better...and you know when I said I had no plot and well, I was having real troubles on what to do, and Morgana doing a failed attempt at taking over Camelot just seemed too normal!**

**I was attacked by the plot bunny for another idea though! And before you start coming after me I am not dropping this story! Because Susie 666 had a fantastic idea of combining them both! So that means I know what I'm doing and you should get quicker updates! Everyone wins!**

**Oh and be very nice to Susie666 because she has a lot of influence on this story, (she has already given me a list of what to do and what not to do!) she also makes sure that it is done because apparently she is hooked and is very pleased to get the chapters before anyone else but anyway, thank you to her for her help and terrible editing skills!:P**

**REVIEWS! I LOVE REVIEWS! SO PLEZ PLEZ REVIEW! AND ****THANK YOU**** TO ANY ONE WHO REVIEWED! I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hi."

Gaius looked up from his book to see his overly cheerful ward entering. When he saw Merlin's face the old man's eyebrow raised.

"You seem too cheery this evening, Merlin, for a man who has a bruise covering half his face, what's happened?" asked Gaius as he stood to closer examine the boys face.

"Oh, I got in argument with Morgana and she slapped me...and then half an hour later I got punched by Arthur" He then smiled and walked past to collapse into a chair at the table, leaving a very confused and shocked Gaius standing there. He soon followed and sat opposite.

Sighing, Gaius started his reprimanding, "I told you Merlin to stop getting in those situations with Morgana, what did you do this time?" at this Merlin turned sheepish and he decided he didn't want to know. "Ok, what did you do to cause Arthur to hit you?" the warlock's brow furrowed.

"Why do you always think it's my fault?" his tone hurt while Gaius just gave him a look to say _because it's always your fault._

"Well, I may of just _accidently_ told him that I can do magic" an apologetic smile was plastered on Merlin, however Gaius didn't see it, no he was too busy recovering from disbelief.

"You did _WHAT_?" Merlin flinched at the anger, disappointment and surprised in his father figure's voice. "How do you _accidently_ tell the Prince of Camelot that you have magic?"

"It wasn't my fault!" as Merlin tried, and failed, to defend himself "He came in, acting all weird, and told me he knew, empathizing the '_knew'. _What was I suppose to do?"

"Make sure he was talking about your magic for starters! Really, Merlin, how could you be so _stupid_?"

"I'm sorry, but how am I suppose to question him on what he knew when he could easily just have me executed? I was panicking!"

"What did he know?"

"He kind of overheard the argument between me and Morgana."

"So basically..."

"He knew secrets she knows but didn't know the one about my magic" sighed Merlin, still annoyed that he had given his deepest secret away so easily.

"But he does now." Merlin just nodded, "How long has he known?"

"He found out this morning" the boy murmured, knowing what was going to happen now.

Gaius was astonished, "And you only thought to tell me this now?"

"I was kind of busy"

"Will he hand you over to Uther?" Gaius asked cautiously, knowing that his ward was here and not in the dungeons was a good sign.

"No."

They stayed in silence for awhile, until Merlin thought Gaius had had enough time to digest the news.

"Oh and Gaius, it gets worse."

"How?" He didn't think he wanted to know.

"Gwen was with him."

* * *

They walked together through the castle, side by side. The others had gotten used to this, for even though servants were supposed to walk slightly behind their master, Prince Arthur and Merlin were more than just servant and master. For one, Merlin got away doing many things that would usually get him flogged and/ or sacked several times. And although many didn't understand their 'relationship', they no longer paid any attention to it.

They moved down through the town, dinner having been eaten and the evening growing late, to Gwen's small house. No one thought twice when they entered, thinking they were probably here on official business or for Morgana, although, all were curious as to why it couldn't wait till morning.

Gwen opened the door, surprised, but still allowed them both in. She had been let off early by Morgana, as her mistress had retired early.

"Sorry to bother you so late, Guinevere"

"No, no, it's fine. How can I help?" asked Gwen, she gasped when the light hit Merlin's face, "Did Morgana's slap do all that?"

Merlin gave a short laugh as Arthur became uneasy. "No, Morgana's slap and Arthur's punch did this to me." She raised her eyebrows toward the prince, but he just shook his head, "How about you take a seat? This may take awhile" Merlin continued, his face a picture of kindness.

She glanced between the two, trying to work out how bad it was. She soon seated herself at her table, while Merlin took the seat opposite and Arthur sat next to her. He took her hand in comfort, squeezing it briefly, _oh god, this has to be bad._

"To start off, I want to say that I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way. It's not ideal and I wish it could have happened another way." Gwen shared a small smile with Merlin and nodded for him to continue. "Morgana was the one to start the fire in her room all those years ago, it was the first time she had used her magic. I should have helped her, but Gaius advised me that it would be bad to. She found help instead in Morgause."

"No offensive Merlin but how could you have helped and how did you know?" Gwen enquired curiously, she realised Arthur was resting his head in his hand,_ he must be exhausted, I know I am._

Merlin gave her a sad, and strangely scared, smile as Arthur tensed next to her. "I have magic too; I'm a warlock, Gwen."

There was a silent second till Gwen was able to respond, "that's not funny, Merlin."

"Good, because I'm not telling a joke."

Gwen turned to Arthur then back to Merlin, she saw no gag, only completely serious faces.

"You're a...but you can't be" she whispered as again, she looked between the two boys.

"I was born with magic; I only started studying it after I came to Camelot. Morgana and Morgause don't know. I have sort of been saving Camelot and her prince, even king, the last three years in secret."

Gwen was speechless; she didn't even know where to start.

"He's telling the truth; my idiotic, clumsy, good for nothing servant is actually the most powerful sorcerer to ever live!" Arthur said, resigned.

That made Gwen's mouth fall open.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, yeah, I sort of killed Nimueh and stopped Sigan, the druids call me Emrys and say that I will be the most powerful sorcerer that has or will ever live."

"Okay..." whispered Gwen.

Merlin noticed that their hands were still linked and thought it best to leave them, maybe they could take comfort in each other and Arthur can answer most of the questions Gwen will ask.

"Right...well I better be off, Gaius wanted me home early tonight. Something about me causing too much mess for one day, oh well, good night"

When Merlin left though, he didn't notice the cloaked figure that slid out of the castle, into the darkness of the night.

* * *

Morgana waited in the clearing for about ten minutes before her sister finally turned up.

"What is it sister? Is something wrong?" Morgause asked, her brow crinkled in concern.

"It's _Merlin_." even his name left a bad taste in her mouth.

"What has that boy done now?" anger quickly swelling in Morgause.

"I think he's talking, both Gwen and Arthur have been acting strange. I think they know." there was a slight edge of fear in Morgana's voice, she knew Uther would never believe Merlin but Arthur might be able to convince him.

"If he had half a brain he would know not to talk" Morgause said, wondering if Merlin even had a brain, although it couldn't be just down to luck that he keeps winning. "What are we going to do?"

"And if he doesn't? If he has told them?"

"I will give him a warning" She said briskly.

"No warning will deter Merlin, trust me, I know him well enough."

"Then it will have to be a very strong lesson, indeed." And the look on the sorcerers' face made Morgana sure that Merlin would regret the day he was born.

* * *

_The taste of ash and smoke burnt his throat, consuming him. There were so much screaming that he thought he would turn deaf, the pain like a razor to his skin. Rain lashed at his face, as if Mother Nature too was waging war on him, each drop bruising his skin. He was soaked to the bone, his body shaking from the wind's biting gust, like a thousand daggers to his chest._

_Suddenly he felt burning in his left hand, as he looked down he saw the crusty flesh that now covered the edge of his hand. The fire ball that had barely missed him went straight toward the already burning houses._

_Salty tears slowly leaked from his bright blue eyes, he wanted to scream, to tell it to stop, to do anything that could help, but it was no use. No sound came his lips, not even a sob, and as he tried to move his legs, he realised they too were not under his control. It was like he was frozen, forsaken to watch this nightmare, powerless to stop it._

_That's when he saw it, the woman laughing at the death and the smoke rose higher and higher. Her blond, wavy hair framed her shoulders; immense brown eyes sparkling with malevolence and hatred._

Merlin awoke with a scream so drenched in ice cold terror and heartache that it tore through the castle and poisoned the minds of those who too had magic, making them shudder in dread of what caused it.

He tried to calm his breathing but it did no good, his thin frame was drenched in sweat, so much he was dripping, so much Merlin thought that it may have been the rain from the dream. He quickly shook that thought off, because for that to be true that would mean that the dream was also true. _It couldn't be!_ That was until he caught sight of his crispy left hand.

_No, please God, no..._

* * *

**So what do you think, hehe Susie666 says I'm evil to Merlin, first I slap him, then I punch him. Well I'm far from done!**

**Plez, Plez REVIEW!**

**PS is anyone else ridiculously happy that Gwen now knows Morgana is a smirking evil bitch...maybe soon she'll find out about Merlin too!**


	6. The Fate of Ealdor

**Hi! Here's the next chapter! **

**Thank You Susie 666 for editing and helping me!**

**And Thank You to all who reviewed, I have read them and all the constructive criticism is greatly appreciated for I am trying to improve – p.s I am in an exam period (reason why this took a week) so the more reviews I get the quicker I update! You get to choose on how big a priority this is to me.**

**Oh and be warned that near the end (Merlin's bit) it maybe a bit graphic - sorry if anyone gets offended or something (skip it to Arthur's bit if you really don't like it).**

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Gaius woke with a shock, the scream still echoing off of the castle's stone walls. He sat up, trying to think of where the yell had originated; he had felt the terror and misery that had filled it, the pure desperation.

When the door suddenly opened with force, he jumped, astonished to see Merlin run through. He was dripping wet, his bones shaking and Gaius was sure that it wasn't from just the cold – Merlin was the one that had screamed.

The old man quickly got over to his ward, before the boy could exit, and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

The jolt was immediate, a force that rippled through the physician, and when Merlin turned Gaius psychically gasped and recoiled. Merlin's eyes were red rimmed, sore from crying, but it was the golden burn that created the fear, because it bore the man's very soul – and that soul had never been so tormented and for one moment Gaius saw the power that this warlock truly held and in that one moment he was more terrified then he had ever been before in his.

The second passed and then Gaius' world went black.

* * *

He awoke to shaking, someone was calling his name. Gaius drew enough strength to open his eyes and focused on a very blurry Gwen and Prince Arthur.

They both sighed in relief at seeing him awake and Arthur was the first one to speak.

"Thank goodness, what happened, Gaius?" There was panic and concern in his voice and when the physician looked around the room, he could see why.

The tables and chairs were overturned, bottles lying precariously all over the place and many of them were broken, oozing their medicine everywhere. The room was a mess, as if an explosion had happened, and he himself was slouched on the ground, head resting awkwardly against the stone wall.

"I don't re-" then it all came swiftly back; the heart-rending cry, Merlin's shaking form, how Merlin's magic had flatten everything, including him. "Nothing to worry about, sire"

Arthur and Gwen faces showed clearly that neither of them believed him.

"Where's Merlin?" anxiety etched into the maid's voice.

"Oh...nowhere, he...um...is probably out in the castle, running around."

The look was still firmly set, however.

"Look, Gaius, we know about Merlin's magic, remember? And that scream was from him, I felt it, so will you just tell us the truth." Arthur was getting agitated, knowing something was terribly wrong, so Gaius just sighed and told them what he knew.

When he described how tormented Merlin was, his emotions ruling his mind, his audience had turned white. He explained that Merlin must have lost his control on his power to cause the chaos, but that he no longer knew where the boy was. There was a pause as they all tried to think of what to do now, until the prince finally spoke.

"I'll find him," and there was determination in his voice that made Gaius both proud and worried at the same time, "I can easily track him, he'll be obvious enough."

"We don't know what state he'll be in, my lord." Gaius was deeply worried for Merlin, however he would not send the prince, only heir to the throne, _or so everyone thinks_, into danger, especially the danger that could be caused by Merlin if he had not gained back his control.

"What other chose do we have? I will not leave him out there alone!" Anger was twisting Arthur and he turned to leave, Gwen closely following until he stopped her, "No, stay. Help Gaius and keep an eye on things. Tell my father that I have gone out riding with Merlin and will be back in a few days."

She pursued her lips and gave a small nod, knowing Arthur was set on finding his friend and would not put her in any unnecessary danger, as he left.

* * *

The mist was settled thickly on the ground but Merlin could still see the carnage staining the dead grass. It was so quiet, as if all living creatures had disserted the massacre or been cut down mercilessly themselves.

Every step the warlock took led him closer to the dread that was filling him; he had tried to block out nausea that had seemed to have gotten more persistent. His feet moved forward unconsciously, one step then another, when a crunch sounded beneath he flinched and recoiled, as if physically hit. His gazed eyes focused upon a charred body, the skeletal mouth still open with silent cries.

Merlin wondered whether he knew the victim - _how much pain did he suffer because of me?_

He slowly backed up; questioning that if he ran and never looked back would the pain stop? Would he be free?

...No...

For he could never forget the faces, never rid his guilt.

He stumbled, feet as clumsy as ever, falling on to the sodden mud.

It was then that he saw her, the corpse was barely recognisable. Twisted and mutilated in ways that made sure he would still be haunted till the next life. He was so close, and before he could think, he was crawling over to the woman. Her eyes were glazed, staring at the sky. Agony was twisted in the features and her skin was a deafly white, but it was her. And now he knew - his mother was dead.

A moment later he lost the battle and started retching on the icy earth. Every heave as painful as the last, but he welcomed the pain, anything was better than the numbness that he was slowly entering.

Retreating hastily to the nearest wall, he leant against it, eyes locked on his mother's shell. As he drew up his knees, hugging them to his body, he wept. Silent tears feel down his cheeks and he no longer cared what happened, all he wanted was to wake up.

He could feel himself breaking and there was nothing he could do to stop it. As each piece fell, his magic grew stronger, encasing every part of his body and mind. It was a strange feeling, getting weaker and yet stronger at the same time. As if his mental barriers were crumbling, allowing his magic to have free reign claim.

And finally it snapped. Merlin's cries stopped and he became stock still. His golden eyes burned with such force that it lit the darkness that had surrounded Ealdor, his skin glittering, seeming as if the magic was in his veins, turning scarlet to gold.

Only one thing was on Merlin's mind...

...Morgause would be begging for death by the time was done with her, as would anyone who got in his way.

* * *

Soon after Arthur had set off on horse, he had discovered the hove marks from the horse that Merlin had taken from the stables. They were hurried and not once did they stop. He followed his friend, without question, to save him. It was the least he could do and he would do it again and again. So he rode hard, never stopping either, and soon he recognised the route – they were heading to Ealdor.

When he arrived, he quickly spotted a midnight coated horse, tied hastily to a tree, that he recognised was from the stables. Arthur dismounted and tied his stallion next to the other animal, as hope swelled in his stomach that Merlin was still here. However, that hope was quickly flattened, when he saw the small village.

Ealdor was in ruins, as if the fist of God himself had decided to bring its wrath upon them. Nothing was left standing and Arthur feared where Merlin was, scared of his servant's devastation.

He drew his sword and once he was able to tear his eyes from the massacre, he saw the lone figure, still as rock, staring at what was once there, their back facing him. Arthur moved briskly to the person, thinking it was Merlin, however halted when he saw that it was in fact a woman.

She had long, black hair, falling in waves. Her dress was violet; a second layer of indigo sheer covered the dress and her arms. Her fingertips were seemingly dripping water however the rest of her body was dry. He couldn't see her face and nearly jumped when she spoke.

"I've been waiting for you, my lord" She said in a bare whisper and yet he could hear her clearly.

"Do I know you?" Arthur asked cautiously, betting that she had magic.

"Once" She said simply, there was a pause as she turned to him. Her skin was pale, eyes dark brown, nearly black. There was a single tear falling down her cheek and he was shocked to see her so distressed. "You must stop him before it's too late."

"What are you talking about?" And even though he had an inclining, Arthur decided to play dumb and play it out.

"Morgause had no idea of what she unleashed." The woman's face was turned back toward Ealdor and the prince slowly and warily came to stand by her.

"Her ignorance has put everything in danger. No one can stop him but you; your connection must be used to make him see sense." The plea in her voice was unmistakeable as another tear fell.

"I don't understand."

"Morgause wanted to teach him a lesson, show that he should keep his mouth shut. She thought that he had told you, and thinking he was as any other servant, decided there was no risk in him losing his mother and his village."

Arthur squeezed his eyes shut, trying helplessly to stop the grief that filled him. So Hunith hadn't managed to survive and his best friend was now an orphan.

"Merlin's thirst for revenge his poisoning him; the emotions have been intensified by his magic. I fear that if he is not saved, he will be consumed by evil and hatred - his destiny and yours, destroyed...You have to save him."

"How?" Arthur asked, his voice sounding rather pleading as he tried to digest it all.

"I do not know. However, if he succeeds in destroying Morgause then it will be too late."

Arthur moved to leave, sensing that the conversation was over; however he stopped to ask one more question.

"You never said your name." He said, wondering who she was.

"No...I am known as the Lady of the Lake."

And then she was gone, and Arthur was left to save his friend.

* * *

**Plez plez review! I really do LOVE feedback! And did anyone else totally love the last episode? Especially the old!Merlin and Arthur scenes!**


	7. Where is she?

**[To anyone who had read this before, I have reposted this chapter, I made many corrections (I didn't really reread it in my hast to post it, won't make that mistake again, soz) and a few sentences, you'll also find that a few of the sentences will have changed meaning because I, or the spell checker, wrote the wrong word. **

**Any beta reader interested in editing this story (an extra eye really needed) would be very welcome. If you are interested then please tell me in a review or PM me, thank you. Sorry again for my terrible grammar!]**

**Ok, so thanx to all your WONDERFUL reviews I'm doing this instead of English and History (both really need to be done) I have been writing this in any free moments I get over the last two weeks (I have had a VERY long, tiring and busy two weeks) and sorry that it took so long. **

**I LOVED all of the reviews and thank you so much. I'm still having exams so it's still 'the more reviews I get, the quicker I update', so PLEZ PLEZ review! ****(I'm soooo close to 100 - never had 100 before!)**

**Thank you to **Susie666**, just like in the other chapters, she helped and edited this for me.**

**Oh and seeing as I haven't written this in awhile – I DO NOT OWN MERLIN!**

**P.s. Merlin's bit gets gruesome again, soz.

* * *

**

The worry on Gwen's face was easily seen, as it was too strong to hide for the poor maid. Her movements were distant as her mind wondered to her two favourite boys, unsure of what was happening. Back and forth the brush went as she untangled her mistress's raven hair.

She didn't notice the look Morgana was giving her, as if the lady were analysing her. Morgana had reached the conclusion today that Gwen defiantly knew something, however, how much she knew and whether Arthur knew it too, was still uncertain. That annoyed Morgana the most, not knowing, she was used to knowing everything – being ahead of the game. She frowned, for she just realised that no matter how ahead she was, Merlin always beat her...out of _luck_!

A loud bang echoed off of the walls, the door reverberating form the sudden, and unnecessary, force. Both women were torn from their thoughts with a jump, and turning to the door they saw none other than the prince, clad in all of his armour.

His expression was unreadable as he fixed eyes on his sister, but when he spoke his tone was dangerously calm.

"Where's Morgause?"

_That idiot! Oh how I'll make Merlin pay!_ "The sorceress? How would I know?" Morgana asked, feigning innocence.

"Do not test me Morgana, I know even more than you and my patience is wearing thin."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Her emotions were slowly getting the better of her, as they always did, and she knew she had to get them back under control, "you're accusing me of conspiracy with the enemy! At least tell me the name of my accuser so that I can put your worries to rest, although, why you would believe in such lies is beyond me!" Oh how well she could play the hurt lady nowadays.

"You don't understand Morgana, Merlin told me everything, now tell me where is Morgause?"

Gwen could see how close the prince was to breaking and just hoped that this ended well. But Morgana just straightened her back, her chin rising, as if trying to gain height on her brother.

"I. Don't. Know. Merlin is lying!" Morgana spoke clearly to Arthur but by the end she was shouting.

It was then that both ladies saw Arthur's control break and he swiftly took Morgana's arms and spun her round to hit the wall. He towered over her, and Gwen was sure he would hit her if she were not careful.

Morgana had seemed to be having the same thoughts because her expression hardened, realising that she was truly discovered.

"Why should I tell you?" she whispered dangerously, a smirk forming on her lips.

Gwen was sure something died in Arthur when his sister's charade had fallen and they could both see the corruption that had poisoned her, for a piece of her died too.

"Do you know what she did?" His words were hard, as if he did not trust himself to speak anymore.

"I know she was teaching him a lesson" the smirk firmly on the lady's face "he deserved whatever he got; opening his big mouth." Arthur's fisted slammed into the wall beside her, making both her and Gwen jump.

"She massacred Ealdor" he hissed as Gwen gasped and although Morgana's hard exterior was the same, there was a little bit of shock in her cold eyes. "Every man, woman and child are lying dead on the ground, the whole village is demolished...it's all gone." The last part was a bare whisper and a tear rolled down Gwen's face. However, Morgana seemed as unfazed as ever, although somewhere in her soul was a lost girl that seemed to be hurt at the idea of being part of such a slaughter.

"He deserved it, did he tell you that he poisoned me, betrayed me?" She summoned the tears and they fell easily down her warm cheeks. Her act was back, trying to guilt Arthur to her side.

"Yes...do you know he has magic?" The sadness and regret in his voice was overtaken by Morgana's disbelief and shock.

"What?" It was a mere murmur, but the silent room still heard it, her tone then became strict, unflustered as she gave a loud laugh. "Merlin? Magic? That idiot can barley stay on his own two feet!"

"I bet that's what Morgause thought too when she _murdered_ his _mother_!" Arthur's rage had reached boiling point and Morgana's blindness was far from helping. "He's going to her now, to find his revenge, and you know what? If I don't stop him in time then I'll never see my friend again because he'll be even worse than you. He'll be consumed by evil and he'll be unstoppable! Now, where the hell is Morgause?" He shouted, Gwen moved to him to put a comforting hand on his shoulder and perhaps comfort herself as well, but when she made contact he flinched, swung round and grabbed her wrist with a painfully tight grip.

Gwen recoiled, shocked and hurt by his reaction, however when their eyes connected he seemed to realise what he was doing and to who. Arthur released it and showed his apology through his eyes, not through words for he knew his voice would betray his weakness to Morgana in that moment and he had to show her that he was in charge.

Arthur turned back to Morgana, "You are going to show us the quickest way to her so that we may find her before Merlin does. He left his horse at Ealdor so I presume that he continued on foot. If we go by horse then we may be able to get there in time." Seeing the Morgana's face, he continued before she could say 'definitely not', "it's a win-win situation Morgana, you save Morgause and I save Merlin, now let's go."

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The wind was bitter, slicing through the trees and attacking the creatures in the dark wood. Merlin, however, carried on unaffected. His footsteps were silent on the wet ground, his tracks easily read but that didn't matter, for anyone stupid enough to follow him did it at their own risk.

The glow of his eyes lit up the area and yet it made the wood seem even worse, more looming and as if evil was as close as ever. He could sense Morgause, as if by instinct, drawn to her by the blood thirst he felt.

It was when he reached a fallen oak, halting his walk, that he felt the cold edge of a blade upon his back.

"Don't move, or it'll be your guts decorating the forest floor!" More men appeared from behind trees, all brandishing their own shiny swords. "Now what valuables do you own on your persons, _fine sir_?" he sneered as he slowly came to face Merlin, his sword never leaving the warlock's skin.

There was a collective grasp as Merlin looked up at the bandits.

"What the hell is wrong with your eyes?" asked a man to the right, fear seeming to choke him and his friends as they looked into the very golden pit of twisted magic, filled with hate and sweet revenge.

"I would run if I were you, while you still have your legs." Merlin spoke crisply as a smirked formed on his lips; it twisted his face into something unrecognisable.

They stood there shocked at the pure power that emanated from both the skinny man's body and voice.

"Hmm, too late...you really shouldn't have interrupted my journey." Pleasure mixed with the blood thirst in the warlock's eyes as he started to raise his hand. The gold glowed brighter as the ground seemed to shift and soon screams for mercy started to fill the air.

When the bloodcurdling cries stopped Merlin looked around, delight filling him as he looked from one scarlet tree to the next. A whimper made him stop though, and he slowly turned to find the source. One man had survived, he was curled in a ball, eyes the size of saucers as he looked at Merlin.

He took delicate steps toward the man, as if moving toward a scared child and not wanting to spook them. When the warlock reached his destination he crouched down so that they could look at each other eye to eye. Merlin tilted his head as he reached a lone finger to the bandit's jaw. It traced the bone, smudging the blood as it went. The man stayed stock still, too scared to even blink, as Merlin's finger travelled down his neck and to his chest.

"W-who are you?" The man stuttered and Merlin just looked at him a smile playing on his face.

"Emrys" and with finality, his hand drove into the bandit's chest, magic sustaining the bandit for mere seconds so that he could watch and feel as his heart was literally town from his body. His screams broke the silence as his hand flew up to Merlin's neck to try and stop it, only to fall back to his side when sweet death took him.

Merlin just stood, his work done as he looked down at the heart, oozing ruby red blood from his clenched fist. He slowly brought it to his face, examined it, and then moved it closer; as if to smell or eat it. Realisation dawned on him and he dropped it in disgust and horror.

He stumbled back, his eyes returning to their sky blue. Merlin looked around, truly seeing the destruction he had caused and felt nausea build up. He could still feel his magic tying to reclaim his body, ready to pounce, however he fought it. But then he remembered his mother and what Morgause did, loathing filled him and the want, no, the _need_ for vengeance came back. He could feel himself losing.

He had never thought he would be in a situation where his magic became his enemy, but he couldn't stop it, he didn't _want _to stop it and slowly the power seeped back in, taking the misery and agony, leaving Merlin once again in a pit of nothingness as his eyes shone bright gold.

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**So there you go, plez review and hoped you enjoyed it :D **

Susie666** was very disturbed by the heart thing and was worried of how I thought of it...whoops, soz if anyone's throwing up now :)**

******Love LL xxx**  



	8. So what is he going to do? Trip over?

**I'm not dead and I'm so, so sorry for the reeeeaaaally long wait but life is just too chaotic and unwell and I've had no time to do anything, and then my internet went down so u would have gotten this earlier but anyway, this is me begging you to not hunt me down with burning torches...pretty please. **

**This chapter is shorter than I would have liked but I liked the cliffy and decided some was better than nothing and I am already starting the next bit so you hopefully won't have to wait long (probably tomorrow...hopefully).**

**Thank you **Susie666** as always for the usual and thank you **KatherineMoonhawk** who is my new Beta reader – Thank you so, so much!**

**And can I just say...OMG...the response I get from this story still astounds me and the amount of reviews I got last chapter was amazing – thank you so much for your support. Soon this will be over (got at most 3 chapters more) and I'll be sad to see it end.**

**Now please enjoy!**

**[p.s to all that didn't realise, the day after posting the last chapter I re-edited it (a lot of it was off and I'm really sorry) so if you haven't you may want to re-read it]

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The three of them rode in silence, the steady beat of hooves alone making a dent in the stillness. It was _too_ quiet for a forest; there were no birds singing, or, in fact the sound of any other living creature. It was unnatural, as if they had all been scared dumb.

Gwen had refused flat out this time to be left behind; arguing that Arthur would need help to keep an eye on Morgana and in the end he had relented, knowing that they had to move quickly and had no time to argue.

They were approaching a fallen oak when they saw it - a glistening crimson coat splashed haphazardly over the deceptively peaceful surroundings.

"What on..." Arthur didn't finish and Gwen gasped. They all looked around slowly, dismounting to search more easily. Even Morgana helped, her curiosity peaking at what could have happened – there were roughly a dozen corpses littering the forest floor, their eyes staring at nothing, their horrorliving on even if they did not. The smell told her that they had not been dead for long and quickly fear eased its way into her mind _**-**_ that whatever had done this could come back.

"Guinevere?"

She spun around to find her maid standing frozen in front of a man that to have had his heart literally torn from his body. Morgana shuddered as she walked over – she _really_ didn't want to meet whoever had done this.

Once she and Arthur reached Gwen, her brother, concerned, went to comfort her - however, before he reached the girl, he stopped. Something had caught his eye and he knelt in front of the carcass, wary of the heart beside him, and reached for the bandit's hand. What he took from it shocked her into complete silence – it was a red neck_**er**_chief.

_Do you know he has magic?_

_He's going to her now..._

_To find his revenge_

_He'll be even worse than you!_

But Merlin can't have done this, he can't have magic – and even if he did he couldn't be this powerful. Her thoughts whirled - but… if it was true then he was heading for her sister, he was going to slaughter Morgause!

And then it came back to her, all those times that somehow their plans had failed, how Merlin was always there when they did, how he always knew too much...he had magic...

"You finally see it, don't you?" Arthur said as he broke her out of her reverie. He was still staring at the neck_**er**_chief that was secure in his fist. "It took me awhile to believe it too – I didn't want to but I had to." He stood and finally turned to look at her, "we need to get moving; the faster we are, the more chance we have of saving both of them."

Morgana nodded slowly and in doing so she made eye contact with Arthur and her mind blanked. There was a great sadness that seemed to emanate from his sapphire irises, and for a moment she wondered what her brother would do if he ever lost Merlin…what she would do? Sure Merlin hadn't always been there, rather straying into their lives when all the drama erupted and somehow becoming a permanent fixture of the castle, almost as if he couldn't die . Of course she herself had tried many times to kill the menace but the funny thing was that she had never thought of what would happen if she ever succeeded. Yes, she envisioned a world without Uther, yes, she had even gone so far as to envision a world without Arthur – but not once had she seen a world without Merlin.

Morgana fell back into her musings, leaving Arthur staring down at the cloth he held and consumed by his thoughts and Gwen staring wide eyed at the man staring blankly back at her, his chest missing its heart. You would think that a warrior prince and an evil sorceress would pay more attention to their surroundings when in a dark wood, but no, they were so caught up in their own minds that they didn't see the group of men till it was too late.

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Okay...so he was pissed but he thought that he had good reason to be. Here he was, hands bound, being dragged unceremoniously along the floor, along with his sister and the woman he loved. Yep, definitely a good reason to be a bit cranky in his opinion. It was strange because the first thing he thought was _'I wish Merlin was here'_ and that was because whenever Merlin was with them they always seemed to miraculously survive...although of course now he knew that it was less to do with luck and more to do with his servant's magical _**'**_talents_**'**_.

The doors were opened and the three of them where hauled into the room and forced to kneel on the cold, stone floor, in front of a throne that seated..._Cendred? Had he seriously just made their job easier?_ Because next to him was the one and only witch they'd been searching for, evil and radiant as ever:Morgause.

She smirked at them and stepped gracefully forward, "to what to do we owe the pleasure of the presence of Uther's heir and ward?"

"We came to warn you," answered Arthur, a bite to his tone.

Her brow creased as she looked down at the prince "Warn us of what? Why would you want to warn us of anything?"

"Please sister, listen to him"

At that Morgause's head snapped to Morgana, a questioning gaze directed at the other woman.

"Our fears were confirmed and Arthur does know. Now, please, we need to leave_**.**_" She was practically begging now.

"I-I don't understand, what's going on?" Morgause asked, as she gestured at the guards to release her sister.

"You destroyed Ealdor_**.**_" His monotone made Morgause look back toArthur.

"And what if I did? The little brat deserved it!"

Arthur and Gwen both stiffened in anger.

"He's coming here for revenge."At that, both Morgause and Cendred burst out laughing.

"Isn't Merlin the clumsy idiot who's Arthur's manservant?" asked Cendred hoarsely after he had calmed.

Morgause just nodded.

"So what is he going to do? Trip over?" Cendred said bursting into another fit of laughter at his joke.

Morgause just rolled her eyes, a smile still playing on her lips.

"I'll kill you...slowly_**.**_"

All of them jumped and looked towards the door in shock to see Merlin standing there, his eyes as bright as ever yet so very dark. His posture was one a great king would hold and beside him were two dead guards, considering the amount of blood pooling on the floor.

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**So there it is, I know I don't deserve any reviews because of the wait – but if you could it would be REALLY appreciated :P **

**Love LL x**


	9. Too Late

**Ok, so here it is the next chapter, it was written on Monday, however, due to email problems and the editors own lives, it wasn't fully edited till today – I'm very, very sorry. Again slightly short but this has another cliffy that I loved – again blame **Susie666**, she's the one that said I should end it here. There's quite a bit of Uther reference in this chapter and while writing this I only just realised that he never appears, not even in the next chapters! **

**Plus, now I don't get**** the sister thing because ****Morgause is half sisters with Morgana through their father, but then Morgana finds out that her father is actually Uther which makes them no longer related, let alone sisters, yet the writers continue to call them sisters- so in this story they ARE still related (although how? I have no clue - they defiantly were suppose to share a daddy)**

**Thank you **Susie666**and **KatherineMoonhawk** for their time and help – They're fantastic!**

**And thank you to all the reviews, I hadn't expected so many!**

**Enjoy!

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"What the..." gasped Cendred as he recoiled.

Every eye was on him, unblinkingly, too scared to look away as he stepped forward.

"Merlin..." whispered Arthur, his voice caught in his throat.

Merlin just wasn't 'Merlin' anymore. Everything about him had changed; the manner in which he held himself, the blood splattered all over him that Arthur knew wasn't mixed with even a drop of his, the way his fingers twitched, almost as if he held _too_ much power beneath his skin and was itching to release it. It was certainly confirmed by his eyes, holding such raw magic that it could drive anyone to insanity if they looked into them for too long. There was a harsh voice in the back of his head that he thought, hoped, prayed, didn't utter a single word of truth as it repeated over and over that he was too late, too late and Merlin was gone.

Merlin stared at him and Arthur's heart sank at the absence of any form of recognition. His best friend no longer knew him.

The warlock tilted his head slightly, "who's Merlin?"

He asked it so innocently and yet so malevolently that Arthur felt as though he was going to be sick. Merlin smirked and the voice inside grew louder – he was too late. Too late…

Arthur wondered if someone could be so right and yet so wrong at the same time, because his father seemed to be. For all his life he had been told that magic was the devil's weapon, but … it wasn't, it was pure. Merlin was good- meaning he could use his gifts to do great things, save lives- however, whilst a stranger seeing this may think it was his magic which had corrupted him, it wasn't. It was power, a flaw that many kings had too, and vengeance.

That was when it dawned on him; it wasn't magic that had corrupted the sorcerers, it was his father. The King had caused it all, everything, he hunted them relentlessly and his hatred had poisoned them in return, making them enemies when they could have been good ,and useful friends and allies.

"But you can't have magic," it sounded as if Morgause was arguing with herself and Merlin just took another step forward. "It's not possible," another step… "and definitely not this much power," and another… "you're just an annoying servant boy who won't die."

Merlin just stopped, not quite close enough to touch his enemy though, and looked at her questioningly.

"Have you ever noticed how similar you are to the man you despise?" His tone was calm and held no accusation but the room was still stunned into silence as Morgause stepped back in shock. However, anger soon took over and she closed the space between her and the warlock a little.

"How dare-"

"It's true," Merlin interrupted, more contemplative now. "You're both cruel, both clouded by hatred, neither of you can see what's so clearly in front of you, both underestimate me, both have caused me to lose family, and you both want me dead, although Uther doesn't really know it...have I forgotten anything?...oh yes...and you're also both related to Morgana," and then he chuckled in amusement although Arthur couldn't find anything the slightest bit funny in his words, and apparently neither could the rest of the room. Tense silence settled over them all.

"Merlin, don't do this, I beg you!" Gwen pleaded desperately, but it was no use, he just ignored her and took another step toward his prey.

Morgause held her ground, glaring at him; meanwhile the cowardly king had gone from sitting in his throne to hiding behind it, as if hoping to find protection there. Arthur merely scoffed, how Cendred could think that a _wooden chair_ would stop a sorcerer was beyond him.

The prince felt a nudge at his side and turned to see Morgana looking at him, her eyes pleading for him to help, praying he had a plan. Arthur just shook his head and then motioned with it to his hands, still tied behind his back. His sister looked at them thoughtfully and then turned to Morgause and Merlin, when she turned back to Arthur she looked down at his chains and murmured a few words he didn't recognise and he quickly felt the restraints loosen. He glanced back to Merlin to see if he had noticed anything, however, the warlock seemed too consumed with taking another step toward his kill to notice the use of magic.

Arthur carefully removed the shackles, lowering them to the ground and trying not to make a sound. Gwen was still pleading for Merlin to stop and soon Morgana also joined in, adding more noise and commotion to the room. Merlin took another step forward, and Arthur presumed it was the last, if he took another then their noses would be touching.

He was right, as Merlin lifted a hand to Morgause's shoulder she tensed visibly, and then Merlin leaned in. For a moment Arthur thought the warlock would kiss the sorceress but instead Merlin went to her ear. He whispered something unintelligible to Arthur's ears; however whatever it was left Morgause looking terrified, though she tried to hide it.

As Merlin shifted Arthur took his chance and pounced. With all of his strength he collided with Merlin and took them both down to the ground. Before Merlin could get his bearings Arthur climbed on top of him and desperately held onto his friend's shoulders.

Arthur looked deep into those burning gold eyes and spoke clearly, begging.

"Merlin, please, you're better than this. If you do this then you'll become like them...no...you'll be worse and I don't want that...you don't want that! Merlin, please, I ne-"

Abruptly, his air supply cut off. It was as if some invisible force had taken hold of his throat and squeezed. He let go of Merlin's shoulders and clutched his neck, trying to rip off unseen hands.

Merlin stood up, and it was then that Arthur noticed his clenched fist. He looked up to his friend's eyes and saw only hate...pure hate.

Black dots started to form at the edges of his vision but no matter how hard he tried, no air would flow into his burning lungs. He could distantly hear Gwen's panicked pleas for him to be released but the only thing that was clear to Arthur was that he was going to die, he was going to die at the hands of Merlin, his most loyal servant, his best friend, and that he had failed the warlock.

Maybe if he had got there sooner? Or, perhaps had been the friend that Merlin really deserved? Because if he did die here at Merlin's hand then there was no chance for his friend to return to himself, whether he killed Morgause or not, because Arthur knew the warlock would never forgive himself for the prince's death, even if he did return from this deep, dark side of himself, and would probably drown in guilt.

The Crown Prince of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon, had failed and now he was going to pay the ultimate price.

"Merlin...please..."

And then the darkness swallowed him.

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**Hope you liked it, please review and hopefully the next chapter will be here soon (fingers crossed)**

**P.s. I know a lot of you are probably disappointed at the clear lack of punishment for Morgause – but have no fear, it isn't over just yet for her...**

**LL x**


	10. The End!

**Ok so this is the End! :'( I had great fun with this story and I am still amazed by its popularity. Sorry it took me so long to write, I had a bit of writer's bloke.**

**There is a POLL on my profile page asking you which story you would like me to write next, PLEZ VOTE! :D**

**Anyway, Thank You Susie666, who edited and helped me through my writer's bloke and Thank You to Katherine Moonhawk who is a fantastic Beta reader!**

**And a final Thank You to all of you who have read this story and especially to those who have reviewed/alerted/faved this story, I love you all!**

**I DO NOT OWN MERLIN!**

**Enjoy!

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There was screaming and pleading somewhere in the room but Merlin paid it no attention: no, the only thing that mattered was that this blonde discovered the cost of getting in his way. Did this knight really think that he could stop the almighty Emrys? He was shocked that this idiot hadn't been killed already; he must have a really devoted guardian angel to protect him from the big bad monsters. He laughed at that, who would want to protect such a prat...

Prat...strange word to use when he didn't even know the man...

And suddenly it all clicked...blonde...knight...idiot...protect...

..prat...

...oh god...

He swiftly lost control over the choke as his hands braced against the sides of his head with crushing force, and he let out an ear-splitting cry. It was as if every cell in his body was on fire, burning him from the inside out. Merlin gasped for breath when the pain finally subsided, well, apart from a heavy ache that wouldn't subside.

There was an emptiness left behind in his mind that couldn't be filled though, and as he regained awareness he noticed he was on his knees on a cold, stone floor, which was definitely not his bedroom. The last thing he remembered was going to sleep after a long day serving his royal pratness.

He slowly raised his head and looked around. He was in a castle's throne room, Cendred's probably due to his presence. Everyone was staring at him, expressions ranging from fear to shock to desperation.

"Merlin?" Gwen whimpered.

He turned to her, confusion filling him as he saw her there, bound. She was a wreck, hair falling over her face, tears soaking her coffee colored skin.

"Gwen..." Merlin whispered, not knowing how to continue, what question to ask first.

"Are you okay?"

Merlin just nodded, still unsure. A small smile twitched on her face but it was gone as fast as it appeared.

"Do you remember anything of the last day?"

She must have seen his confusion and he confirmed her thoughts with a shake of his head.

"Okay...I'll explain later, alright? But for now I need you to do something, can you do that?" Her voice was so soft, as if she thought she might make him flip.

Everyone continued to stare at him, unmoving, and he was finding it very creepy, especially as most of them wanted him dead. He nodded again, still trying to remove the haze that was clogging his mind.

A small sob left her lips as Gwen tried to continue, "I need you to check Arthur... to see i-" another sob, unable to finish the request.

Panic filled Merlin, his mind cleared as his eyes searched for Arthur.

The prince was lying next to him, motionless. Horror and dread blinded him as he moved over to his friend. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the beat of his heart, even though it was erratic. Arthur's breathing was also far too shallow, but at least both signs of life were there.

Merlin grabbed his shoulders and gently shook him, forcing him back to consciousness. Arthur slowly stirred, a groan leaving his lips, his eyes cracking open.

When he saw Merlin above him he automatically recoiled. He could see the hurt in Merlin's crystal blue eyes...blue...Merlin had lost the burning golden orbs.

He slowly sat up, Merlin helping him as he fought off the onslaught of pain that attacked his head and throat.

"Wha-" he cleared his throat to try and rid himself of his croaky voice, but it didn't work so he just continued. "What happened?" Merlin shrugged.

"Beats me, I don't even know why we're here…"

And then it hit him, he remembered the burning flesh, the glazed over stares of horror. Merlin froze, the onslaught of emotions suffocating him.

"You murdered her." It was barely a whisper, yet everyone heard it. The air was suddenly thick with tension as Merlin turned to face the blonde witch.

"You _murdered_ her," this time it came out as a hiss, gold sparks swimming in his cobalt irises.

"Merlin, do-" But Arthur was too late as Merlin's hand flew out, magic spilling from him, and Morgause doubled over in pain. She was screaming but Merlin wouldn't stop...couldn't.

Running to her sister, Morgana kneeled beside her to see if she could help, but it was useless. She turned to Merlin and yelled at him to stop, but again it was useless.

Arthur strode in front of his servant, effectively blocking the man's view of the sorceress. The prince looked directly into his eyes.

"Stop, now!" He commanded in his best 'prince' voice. Arthur rarely used direct, strict orders on Merlin, even though the boy was his servant. He had never really needed to, Merlin rarely paying attention to him anyway.

Merlin seemed to falter, his muscles relaxing slightly as he returned Arthur's stare. It was as if he were crumbling, like an old wall that had finally lost its strength and fallen apart.

Merlin's power seemed to disappear, along with Morgause's screams, as his shoulders sunk and his knees gave way. Arthur just stood there, unable to move, as despair slowly etched its way across the warlock's face. He looked so lost, his eyes glassy as a single tear escaped. The servant looked far too old in those long minutes, his youth having been stripped from him too soon.

Everyone just continued to stare as another tear left.

"She didn't deserve that." Arthur had to strain his ears to listen to Merlin's whisper. "She didn't deserve any of it."

"Merlin..." Gwen's voice was hushed as she knelt down next to her friend.

She placed a tentative hand on his shoulder; however he jerked away from her, whispering, "all my fault...all my fault," over and over.

"Merlin...none of it's your fault." Gwen tried to comfort Merlin in a soft tone. However, all Merlin did was shake his head violently.

"I caused her misery; I caused her fear...I...I ca-caused her death..."

"No you didn't!" Gwen protested, her voice full of strength as she tried to rid her friend of his guilt.

"She died because of me...my magic...everyone I care about dies because of me...Will, Freya, my father...now my mother...all because of me."

"Sshhh, they died so that you would live, because they love you. They wouldn't want you to be like this, they would want you to be strong and to continue fighting, so that they didn't die in vain."

"Come on, Merlin, Guinevere's right," Arthur said as he crouched in front of his friend. "Now, we need to leave this place."

Merlin slowly nodded, wiping his eyes, as both Arthur and Gwen helped him to stand. They turned and had nearly left when they heard Morgause.

"_Forbærnan_"

They swiftly turned to catch sight of Morgause throwing a fire ball toward them. However, before Arthur could react and do anything, it stopped and stayed there, a couple of feet from them. Arthur looked over at Merlin and saw him, eyes golden once more, as he forced the fire ball back towards Morgause until it was finally in the centre of the room. The sisters just sat there, powerless to stop it, as the gold glowed brighter and the ball increased in size.

Merlin's raised hand suddenly closed to form a fist as he whispered "_úpáblæw_" and the ball exploded. The whole room was showered with chunks of rubble. Arthur instinctively shoved Merlin, Gwen and himself out of the room, saving them just in time.

They stood there, looking at each other, wondering what to do next. Arthur looked back at the wreckage, wondering if anyone had survived. However, there was no time, with all the guards that would no doubt go running after them, especially if the others _were_ alive.

He turned back to the trembling warlock and exhausted future queen and they gazed right back at him. It was then that he decided, no matter what, that they would be alright; they would survive this, like they always had...together.

He smiled for the first time in what felt like forever and walked past them, allowing them to follow, calling over his shoulder to a bemused Merlin.

"I think my armour needs a good scrub...don't you agree Merlin?"

Yep, he thought, as he caught his servant's eye roll, they'd be just fine...

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**THE END! :'( So what did you think? Plez REVIEW and tell me :D I do LOVE reviews! And remember the Poll!**

**LL x**


	11. Epilogue

**I'm so sorry for the extremely long wait; work, school and medical problems dragged me away from fan fiction. Anyway thank you for all of your support, reviews, alerts and favourites – you're all amazing!**

**And thank you Susie666 for all of your help! Katherine Moonhawk unfortunately wasn't able to beta this for me due to illness and a very busy schedule, so I'm very sorry for any mistakes.**

**Enjoy!**

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Arthur knocked lightly on the physician's door and then quietly entered. Gaius was sitting in his chair and momentarily looked up before turning back to his thick, dusty book. The old physician was very used to Arthur's visits by now.

Arthur had just walked past Gaius when he swivelled back and approached him.

"How is he today?"

Gaius sighed, and without removing his eyes from his page, answered, "The same, I'm afraid. Although be warned he is a little agitated this morning, so be careful."

"Who can blame him?" Arthur murmured under his breath as he continued his journey to the small room. He heard Gaius hum in approval right before he knocked and entered.

Merlin was lying on his bed, reading his magic book. Arthur flinched a little, still trying to get used to harbouring a sorcerer, but who could blame him from being a little opposed to it? He was committing _treason_ after all!

His friend must have caught it as he placed the book quickly underneath his bed and muttered a quick 'sorry' to the prince.

Arthur just sighed and sat at the edge on the bed, like he always did.

"No, its fine..."

They sat there for a few seconds, silence looming over them for a minute or two as Merlin twisted his hands and the prince inspected his friend - the bruises underneath his eyes were a little darker than they were the last visit, his skin paler and bones more prominent. The boy was slowly declining in health, and no matter what he, Gwen or Gaius did, it wouldn't stop. Arthur shook his head softly and sighed.

"Have you eaten anything recently?" He asked, although he already knew the answer.

Merlin glared at his hands and shook his head, "I tried but..."

"Yeah...do you feel any better?" Again, he already knew the answer.

"Oh, just dandy" Merlin joked.

Arthur gave him a small, understanding smile and stood, moved to the closet and removed a well used Morris board. It had become a tradition for the pair to play it while Arthur visited; it kept them both occupied and removed unwelcome and uncomfortable silences. Arthur sat back down as Merlin shuffled to the side a bit to allow room for the game to be set up on the bed.

They played in silence for a while, apart from the occasional banter.

"So I think that makes it 3-1 to me, don't you think?" Merlin chirped to Arthur as the prince glared at him. Merlin was unnaturally good at this game, although it probably did help that Arthur was semi letting him win, but it was a small price to pay to see his friend laughing and smiling again.

Arthur cleared the board again to start the new game; however, when Merlin picked up one of his pieces to place on the board, his hand shook. It started as a small tremor but quickly escalated to violent shaking; the warlock quickly withdrew his hand, trying uselessly to stop it by clamping it down with his other hand. The prince knew he couldn't do anything, and he felt helpless because of it.

"I guess it hasn't gone yet, then?"

Merlin gave a small bitter laugh, "no, but I suppose it hasn't gotten worse, so I'm not dead yet."

Arthur flinched a little, and thankfully Merlin hadn't seen it this time, because at one point they weren't sure if he'd live. His magical overload had cost him dearly and it was as if his own blood was killing him.

Gaius had said that his body had been put to the limit, saying that Merlin not being able to control his full ability yet was probably not the only reason that the true extent of his powers had been locked away inside of him, but also because his body had to be used to that amount of magic before adding some more. Now his body just couldn't deal.

Merlin stared out toward the window, a longing look on his face. "Did Gaius say anything about me being able to leave this god forsaken room any time soon?"

Arthur bowed his head; his thumb and forefinger come up to rub the bridge of his nose. The prince hated giving bad news, he really did.

"Sorry, Gaius didn't say anything directly about it, however he did say you hadn't improved so-"

"Yeah, I know. I have to stay here." The bitterness in his friend's voice hadn't shocked him in the slightest. Truthfully, Arthur had to admit, if he had been in the same situation and unable to leave his room he was sure he would have snapped a very long time ago.

"Look, I wish we could sneak out and everything but we just can't risk it. It's too dangerous for you and for Camelot"

"Yeah, I _know_" Merlin repeated "I just wish I could control it better."

That was another bittersweet truth of letting powerful magic overwhelm you. It had always been instinctual for Merlin but lately he had been moving, alighting and making things through magic subconsciously and completely unaware. If his father saw, or anyone else for that matter, his head would be on a chopping bloke, and Arthur had gone through too much trouble to keep him alive to let it all go to waste now.

The other thing was that he didn't have as good as an emotionally control over his power as he used to, which all round meant he was a lose canon and a danger to everyone around him.

"Any word on Morgause yet?"

Arthur shook his head regretfully. Morgana had returned after the whole ordeal, they all had had their excuses ready for Uther and she was no different. It made Arthur sick knowing she was twirling his father around her little finger and he could do nothing to stop it.

She and Arthur hadn't spoken apart from a few words during his father's presence. Uther just thought that they had had an argument, that technically speaking was true. Gwen did her duties as normal, much to the displeasure of Arthur, although he did have to wonder how long it would last. Their icy reception of each other and Gwen knowing of Morgana's betrayal meant that she'll probably fire the maid any time now.

Arthur sighed, they truly were at stalemate. He couldn't accuse Morgana of anything, not with his father doting her every move and she could have two people he cared about executed with one word – they were only _servants_, after all_._

It was times like this that Arthur wondered how Merlin coped – this whole castle was filled with backstabbing liars. Yep, sometimes blindness is the nicest option.

"Look," Arthur said "she's probably alive and working on her next plan to kill us all but we'll beat her, alright?"

Merlin slowly nodded, his head finally turning back to Arthur and the board.

"And anyway, she doesn't know you're Emrys, the all powerful one, right? Meaning she doesn't know the full extent of your powers, so I say we still got one hell of a chance to beat her."

Merlin huffed, swallowing all the arguments that he had showing how screwed they were. No, he let the hope from Arthur's words sink in and then he embraced it, never wanting to let go and prayed he would recover from this.

"Okay, so you up for this round? Because I'm ready to kick your butt."

"You sure about that, sire?" Merlin asked as he raised an eye brow that would make even Gaius proud. "Maybe we should make this more interesting, if I win, you muck out the stables, I'm sure your new servant would be glad not to have that annoying chore."

Arthur scoffed, he really didn't want the wager but turning it down showed weakness and he _never_ showed weakness. "But now, my dear _Mer_lin, what would happen if I win?"

Merlin just smirked, "Well,_ my lord_, you'd have the honour of _finally_ beating me_._"

The glare Arthur sent would have had the bravest knight of Camelot shaking in their boots but as it was, Merlin just gave him a very toothy grin and Arthur softened. It was nice to see his friend's rare smile...but was it worth the stables?...

* * *

**THE END (...hopefully)**

**I hope that that is a better ending (you didn't think I would let Merlin off the hook that easily, did you?). I feel that I have set myself up nicely for a sequel although I still don't know what to do.**

'**Whisperings of a Cave' won and should start soon so please read that one too. Oh and of those that don't have me on Authors Alert, I have just posted a Merlin one-shot so please read that too!**

**Thank you again! (and please, please review!)**

**LL x**


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